Video Information

• Choir: Matthew Curtis - Choral Tracks
• Piece: Good King Wenceslas
• Composer:  David Rain
• Voices:  SATB with divisi
• Sheet Music:   www.leadingnote.com/produ...  
• Genres: A cappella, Classical, Sacred, Christmas
• This brand new version of Good King Wenceslas is dedicated to my uncle Duncan Shaw of Vancouver. His "retirement project" - developing his own theory of gravity - has been a huge inspiration in my own compositional journey late in life.
  
  Som...  moreThis brand new version of Good King Wenceslas is dedicated to my uncle Duncan Shaw of Vancouver. His "retirement project" - developing his own theory of gravity - has been a huge inspiration in my own compositional journey late in life.
  
  Some background:
  
  I have sung the traditional version of Good King Wenceslas since I was a kid. I fell in love with the lyrics and the story, but have always been puzzled by the way it was arranged, in particular the way that the "las" of Wenceslas lands on the downbeat. When I was young, I thought the lyrics were actually "Good King Wences last looked out!"
  
  All to say that I got inspired to create a totally different version. I used the 19th century poem by John Mason Neale, but I wanted to create a different "feel" to the story, to take it back in time to its origins in the Middle Ages - hence the medieval feel to much of the piece.
  
  I also felt that since the Wenceslas story is all about a journey, a setting in 3/4 time would create a better sense of that feeling, rather than the traditional 4/4.
  
  And lastly the 3/4 feel to it helped in part to solve the "las" problem noted above, as did the insertion of an extra word, "he", as in "Good King Wenceslas, he looked out."
  
  So here it is, a brand new take on Good King Wenceslas. Hope you like it. As always, comments are most welcomed.
  
  Email me at rain@magma.ca, if you'd like more info.
  
  I would like to acknowledge the a cappella choir that I sing in, The Stairwell Carollers, and our director Pierre Massie, for their musical inspiration these past 26 years.
  
  I would also like to thank my friends in our "Ad hoc Chorale" for testing out this piece in one of our informal workshops and offering valuable comments.
  
  And with deepest appreciation to my brother Adam Rain and my friend Geneviève Lajoie for their invaluable support throughout my composing journey.  less